


Camellia

by AnnurTsubaki



Category: Naruto, Naruto Shippuden
Genre: F/M, Matchmaking, Rare Pairings, jumbled timeline, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2019-08-17 14:22:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16518143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnurTsubaki/pseuds/AnnurTsubaki
Summary: He didn't belong in that team. He had us, yet he longed for them. Was being in a team with us not enough? I was pretty sure my crystal release could rival his mokuton, but I couldn't rival the place he reserved for Team Seven in his heart. Not yet...





	1. Yamato

**Author's Note:**

> The first two chapters were posted in FF.net last year, but as I had no access to that site anymore, this is where I'll continue...

Chapter 1: Yamato

 

Yamato. My new team member. I had been assigned to his three-man squad since two months ago. We had gone through a few missions together, yet I felt secluded. Kakashi was back with Team Seven while he was assigned a new team with me and Inuzuka Hana, yet he was distant. It was like his heart was still with them and not with us. 

 

He was Team Seven’s captain. Was. It was never his place to begin with. It was Kakashi’s. He was just a replacement for the copy-nin. Now that Sasuke had come back, Kakashi had resumed his position with the original Team Seven. The other replacement member of Team Seven, Sai, had also been re-assigned to a three-man squad with Uzuki Yugao and Uzumaki Karin, the red-head who was tagging along when Sasuke came back to Konoha. Sasuke brought back another two shinobi with him; Juugo and Suigetsu. Those two were not assigned a team, but put under supervision of Mitarashi Anko. When I came to Konoha for the first time, I too, was put under surveillance for quite some times. It was Naruto who convinced the Godaime Hokage to accept me as Konoha shinobi.

In between missions, sometimes I caught him looking at Team Seven in a longing that seemed pitiful. Sai was seen a few times hanging with Team Seven because his teammate Karin was fond of Sasuke and would do almost anything to get closer to him, and because Naruto was a great friend to anyone he came upon with. Yet to me it seemed like there was no place for Yamato in that group. The team was already a complete one, even without him as an addition.

Yesterday, he treated me and Hana to some ramen. I knew he had missed his time there with Team Seven, and I decided not to say anything about it to him. Hana noticed that too, of course. And we chose to let him be.

Today, Tsunade gave us a joint mission with Team Seven. We were to escort a group of merchants from Konoha to Nadeshiko Village and acted as the intermediary between the women in the village and the merchants. 

I knew that Yamato and Naruto had been there once, which was why both teams were chosen in this mission. If it was me, I would only choose Yamato, Naruto and another shinobi who was familiar with the village instead of putting our two teams together. But then again, I was not the Hokage. And I did not know the reason on why she had chosen two teams to undergo this mission. Seven shinobi would not make the mission stealthy. 

“Yamato-taichou, do you think they will force me to fight them again?” Naruto was grinning when he asked Yamato that question. All eyes in the room averted to him. I saw curiousness in everyone present.

“Do you wish them to?”

“Nope. I don’t want to marry any one of them.”

“What? They want you to marry one of them? You?” Sakura was laughing. She seemed to think lowly of him compared to Sasuke, the star of the team. Even Sasuke was smirking at the thought of that. I hated the double standard she was showing to Naruto, though she seemed oblivious to that fact herself.

“What? Do you think I’m not attractive enough?” Naruto pouted. He turned to me as if asking for my opinion. “Guren, do you think I’m attractive?”

“Well..I would sa-“ My words were intercepted.

“Enough! You’re to be at the rendezvous point in an hour. Go back and prepare for it instead of chatting here!” Tsunade, the Godaime, slammed her fist on the desk, splitting it into two. Silence filled the air. No one dared to speak, not even Kakashi.

“Baa-chan, you don’t have to be so serious. We get it. See you later.” Naruto was the first to break the silence. He walked out from the Hokage’s room, and we followed him. 

“Naruto, I know you’ve been to the village before. What happened?” I asked him, curious of the event. Hana was walking silently by my side. 

“Oh, nothing much. They wanted to fight me because I’m Ero-sennin’s student. If I win, I’ll have to marry one of them. I already forgot the woman’s name though.” Naruto explained while we were walking in tow.

“If I’m not mistaken, you’re with Yamato at that time.” Kakashi decided to join the conversation. I noticed a slight uneasiness in Yamato’s demeanor.

“Senpai, we were only there to re-stock our supplies. Besides, Guy and Aoba were with us.” Yamato explained as if he was trying not to make Kakashi mistook him. I did not know why though. 

“Chill, Yamato. I’m only stating the fact.” Kakashi replied, but I sensed venom in his voice. What was wrong with the copy-nin? Why was he being so all high and mighty in front of my teammate?

“Please call me Tenzou, senpai.”

I did not hear the rest of their conversation as I was indulged in my thought. It seemed that there were a lot of things that I was yet to grasp. Konoha was the first choice that came in my mind when I thought of a place to return to. Because this was the place Yukimaru was buried after we were ambushed during our travel. My crystal release was enough to defeat the perpetrator, but Yukimaru was poisoned while I was not looking. I rushed us to Konoha’s hospital, which was the nearest, but death was unavoidable. And I had been here ever since.

“Guren!” Someone called my name.

“Guren!” Hana shook my body, pulling me out from my thought.

“Huh? Wh-what?” I was startled. 

“What was that?” She asked, pointing to the crystallized camellia in my hand. The only memento left of Yukimaru. I did not realize that I put it out unconsciously.

“This..It’s a memento.” I felt forlorn saying the words. “Wait, where’s everyone?” I noticed that we were the ones left.

“They were already gone. We’ll meet at the gate in twenty minutes. I’ll see you there.” Hana left after saying that to me. I just nodded and saw her leaving. 

In twenty minutes, we would have our missions. I would get to see Yamato reunited with Team Seven, like he had longed for. But, was it for the better, or for worse?

…………………………………………………..


	2. Compound

Chapter 2 : Compound

 

Nothing unusual happened during our mission to Nadeshiko Village. I had to admit that I had hoped for ‘something’ to happen. Like a quarrel between Kakashi and Yamato, or another marriage proposal to Naruto. But then again, I should be glad that our mission went well. I had spent most of my time with Hana, though sometimes Sakura would join us to avoid getting involved when her teammates were bickering to each other. 

 

Escorting the merchants back to Konoha should be easy. The valuable goods were already traded, and the money was safe. How hard could it be to guard some merchants? That was what I thought before I heard a strange sound. In a blink of an eye, we were ambushed at the river bank while resting!

 

Everyone was quick to counter the attack. I, on the other hand, was shocked to see Yukimaru amongst the attacker. How come he was alive? Then again, I remembered Kabuto and his Reanimation Jutsu. What a sneaky bastard! When did he resurrect him?! 

 

“Guren, what are you doing? Protect the merchants! Hana and Sakura will assist you.” Yamato shouted at me, pushing me to the back where the said merchants were. Hana and Sakura were quick to come to my assist.

 

“This is so not like you. Why are you hesitating?” Hana questioned me while fending off the attackers. I did not answer her. Instead, I left them and went to where Yamato and the rest of the guys were. I chose to ignore them calling me back to protect the merchants.

 

Yamato threw a shuriken at Yukimaru, but I countered it with my crystal lance. Quickly I rushed forward and confronted all the Konoha-nins with Yukimaru at my back. Yamato was shocked, but he remained his composure.

 

“Your teammate betrayed us, Tenzou. How nice.” Kakashi was eyeing me while saying that to Yamato. I held my lance tightly, ready to attack.

 

“She’s not, Kakashi-sensei. That’s Yukimaru. She was just protecting him. As she had always done.” To my shock, Naruto was backing me up. I gritted my teeth.

 

“I’m sorry.” I said to the Konoha-nins. I glanced and saw Hana’s glaring at me at the back of the team. She would probably doubt my loyalty now. Great.

 

“Guren, duck!” Yamato yelled, but I suddenly became numb, unable to move. Someone from behind my back charged forward. And then there Yamato was, taking a kunai to his chest when he came to my rescue. One of Yukimaru’s team members had stabbed him. Instead of me.

 

The last thing I saw before I fainted was Yamato shielding me with his mokuton. I collapsed in the wooden shield.

 

..o0o..

 

I woke up in Konoha hospital. No one was around as I was placed in a solitary room. Deep inside, I had wished for my teammates to be there when I regained consciousness, but that was impossible now, wasn’t it?

 

A nurse came in, bringing a flower bouquet. It looked like it had came from the Yamanaka flower shop, yet the arrangement was totally a mess. I lurked, but did not see any card on it.

 

“Who’s that from?” I asked the nurse. 

 

“Naruto. He said he arranged it himself, which is why it is like this.” The nurse put the bouquet in a vase and placed it beside my bed. 

 

“He needs to learn more from Yamanaka-san’s daughter. Hehe.”I forced a laugh. It seemed that Naruto was the only one who cared.

 

“Oh, before I forget, you can go home today. Tsunade-sama had signed your release form.” The nurse informed me. Great, now I could go back home and rest peacefully without anyone interfering. Or should I say ‘no one will actually interfere’?

 

When the nurse left, I recalled the mission we had. Even without the words from the Godaime herself, I knew that failed. They had given me a place to call home, and yet I defended the enemy. And I failed at that too.

 

I wished that any shinobi would come and visit me, so that I could ask them on the mission result. What happened to Yukimaru? Was Yamato badly hurt? Why did Kakashi called him Tenzou? And would Hana accept me as her friend after this incident? I had so many questions that needed answering. Sadly, I had no answer to any of it.

 

The door to my room was opened again. This time it was by Shizune, Godaime Tsunade’s assistant. She pulled the chair and sat beside my bed. 

 

“How do you feel today, Guren-san?” She asked me.

 

“Okay, I guess.”

 

“I’ll get it straight to the point. There was a council meeting this morning regarding the attack by your..friend.” She hesitated to mention Yukimaru’s name. I did not blame her. Yukimaru was buried here, but he was not Konoha’s citizen nor was he Konoha’s shinobi. 

 

“Hmm…” 

 

“Your teammates were present along with all team Seven’s members. The merchants that were present during the incidents had filed a case against you, and they almost win it if not for Captain Yamato’s assurance on your loyalty. Naruto had backed him up too. They had vouched for it with their lives. Do you know what that means?”

 

“Yeah..I guess. They’ll have to bear the consequences if I betray Konoha again.”

 

“And by ‘consequences’, that means ending their lives.”

 

“What did the Godaime say? About me, that is.”

 

“She had ordered you to be on house arrest for two months. You will be replaced by Anko-san in these two months.” Anko. Mitarashi Anko. I had heard that name before. She was in Anbu and used to be Orochimaru’s student. I hadn’t heard anything on Orochimaru lately. 

 

“I understand.”

 

“Yamato will escort you back home. He’s outside.” Shizune left after telling me to pack my things. As if I had ‘things’ on me when I was sent here. 

 

Taking the bouquet from the vase, I walked outside and approached Yamato on the bench. He was lost in his train of thoughts.

 

“Hey.” I greeted him. 

 

“Hey. Ready to go?” He stood up. I noticed that he was holding a parchment in his hand and quickly put it in his pocket when I greeted him.

 

“Yeah.”

 

I followed him to my house. When I was accepted as Konoha shinobi, the Hokage let me chose where I would like to settle. I had chosen the far end of the Aburame’s compound. Therefore, I would not disturb their privacy, and no one would disturb mine. The Aburame clan was not as proud as the Uchiha, nor as loud as the Inuzuka. I appreciated their modest behaviour as it suited me best. The Nara clan was good, too, but I preferred the Aburame compound more.

 

Yamato was silent all the way along our route. His hand was in his pocket where the parchment was. 

 

“I heard that you vouched for me. Thank you.” I broke the silence, hoping to hear him talk.

 

“We are teammates. Teammates protect each other.” There came his short reply.

 

“Hana’s a teammate. But she didn’t vouch for me. She was present, wasn’t she?”I did not intend to question Hana’s stand on that matter, I was trying to pinpoint his real intention for backing me up. I never think of blaming anyone for sure.

 

“She was being practical. She saw her teammate defending the enemy. You can’t blame her for standing up to her beliefs.”

 

“Then why won’t you side with her? Why protect me?” I had expected him to say something like ‘for Team Seven’s sake’ or something like that.

 

“I just..don’t want Naruto to be upset.”Bingo! Exactly spot on. What a hunch I had. I thought it would hurt hearing him saying that, but strangely it did not.

 

“Yeah, right. But then again, I bet Kakashi wasn’t happy that you took my side.” I saw his face saddened. Gloomy.

 

“I had no choice. Senpai will understand.” His voice was full of sorrow. It might be hard to leave a bad impression to the leader of the team he had longed to be part of.

 

“…………” I grunted.

 

I had no more say to him on that matter. We walked in silence for the remaining yards. As we reached my house, I saw him eyeing the surroundings.

 

“Your house area is quite open. They don’t even build a fence around the area. Is it okay to leave it like this?”

 

My house was indeed located in the middle of a clearing at the outskirts of the Aburame compound. In terms of safety, it would easily attract the enemy. I did not even place a protective seal around it.

 

“I’m grateful that they even give me a house to begin with. Who am I to demand more than this?”

 

“I’ll help you build a fence. At least it will fend off wild animals. Where’s the perimeter?” Yamato circled the area. I showed him the perimeter to my house and the markings around it. He nodded and circled that area one more time before he stopped in front of the front door.

 

After a few minutes of thinking, Yamato built a fence around my house using his mokuton. I knew he liked to read books on architecture, but this fence was too beautiful to be true for my liking. The front gate to my house even resembled a wooden floral archway. And he made the fence covered with living plants and flowers. Not too dense, yet it soothed me just by seeing it. As a bonus, there was even a wooden set of table and chairs beside the house for me to relax during the day.

 

“You don’t have to do this, but thank you so much. It’s beautiful.” I thanked him, though a thank you was not enough to express my gratitude.

 

“Have a rest. Tomorrow they’ll send an Anbu to guard you. I’ll come with Hana if we don’t have any mission.” 

 

“I know. Send my regards to her. Be careful on your way.”

 

Yamato nodded and walked out of my compound. I had a compound of my own now thanks to him and his mokuton. Waving him good bye, I saw his back vanished as he teleported himself out from my yard. He left.

 

The next day, two Anbus were dispatched to my house. One with a cat-like mask, and the other with a dog-like mask. I ignored them most of the time. I had waited for Yamato and Hana to show up, but it seemed like they would not come. Instead, my house was raided by Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. I was pretty sure the latter two were forced by Naruto, but they did cheer me up. The kids were not so bad if you get to know them. 

 

Still, I wanted to see my teammates. 

 

………………………………………


	3. Escort Mission Again

Chapter 3: Escort Mission Again

 

The two Anbus were replaced by another pair by the time it was dusk. It was a cloudless night with full moon. I was sitting on the chair outside of the house when Yamato and Hana approached. I welcomed them into my house, preparing some tea and snacks.

 

“Your house is secluded. I would be lost if Yamato wasn’t leading the way. Nice house, by the way.” Hana tried to converse, while Yamato was too stiff to respond to her words. He chose to be silent.

 

“I like it better this way. No one will disturb me.”

 

“Tomorrow we’ll go to Suna. Another escort mission. I don’t know why we keep getting this stupid mission. Why can’t we have a more dangerous one? I feel like wasting my skills this way.” 

 

“Godaime must have her own reasons. Besides, Anko-san’s going with you. She herself is already a dangerous mission. Hehe.” I tried to joke. Hana laughed, but Yamato was still giving no reaction whatsoever. 

 

“Hana, it’s getting late. We should go back.” Yamato, who was silent from the beginning, urged them to leave. It wasn’t even that long that they entered my house. It was barely fifteen minutes or so. Hana complied, though I felt like she would prefer to stay. At least she wasn’t distancing herself from me after the incident.

 

“Okay. See you, Guren.” Both of them stood up and leave. I sent them out, but only to the archway. I wasn’t supposed to go beyond that, unless I wanted to add another month to this confinement.

 

By midnight, I was getting ready to sleep when I noticed that Yamato had returned. This time he was alone, without Hana. I went to the archway, inviting him in, but he refused. Instead, he stood there, gesturing for me to come closer. 

 

“What is it?” I asked him. He stared at me, emotionless.

 

“Do you resent being in a team with us?” He asked me. Funny, I had always thought I should be the one asking that question to him. I glanced at the two Anbus on the tree nearby. They were watching us intensely. I decided to ignore those two.

 

“I thought you’re the one resenting us. Resenting me, of that I was sure of. Hana did nothing to you, though.”

 

“I never resent you. Both of you. It’s just that…” His words trailed. I knew what he felt, I did, really.

 

“You don’t have to say anything, Yamato. We’re teammates. We support each other.”

 

“Guren, I just want you to know that I don’t mind being in a team with you. Not because Naruto thinks of you as his friend or what, it’s just…I just don’t mind. Besides, your kekkei genkai is pretty good. Hana’s ninken are good too.”

 

“Yamato, like I say, you don’t have to say anything. I understand.”

 

..o0o..

 

The next day, another two new Anbus were sent to replace the previous ones. It seemed like all Anbus would eventually have their turn to keep an eye on me. Not that it mattered anyway. During noon, I saw a glimpse of a small white snake at my courtyard. It ran away when I approached it. Snakes reminded me of Orochimaru. I had been his follower for so long before coming to Konoha, but not anymore.

 

While I was relaxing, a jounin suddenly appeared in my courtyard, saying that the Hokage wanted to see me. Confused, I went to the Hokage Tower immediately, all the while unable to stop thinking on why I was summoned. 

 

“You wish to see me, Hokage-sama?” I bowed in front of her. The Hokage nodded and whispered to her assistant, Shizune. 

 

“Guren, your house arrest is cancelled. You’ll join your team to Suna on an escort mission. I have re-assigned this mission. Team Asuma will join you but they will act on a different mission.” The Hokage explained. Just after she finished her sentence, Yamato and Hana entered the room. 

 

“The Kazekage had informed us that a few noble families from all five great countries were currently residing in Suna to ask for his sister’s hand in marriage. He had never advertised any matchmaking for his sister, thus he thought that there might be something suspicious going on with all the nobles flocking together.” The Godaime explained again. I stood still, unable to utter even a single word.

 

“Team Asuma will disguise as nobles from Fire Country. Shikamaru will be the one asking for Temari’s hand in marriage. All three of you will escort and protect them at all cost.” So it really was an escort mission. 

 

“Suna has a good relationship with Konoha. And the sand siblings were friends with Konoha 12. What if people recognize us as shinobi?” 

 

“That’s why I said ‘disguise’. Should I explain how shinobi disguise themselves, Guren?” I heard sarcasm there. Darn, why would I utter such nonsense? We were shinobi, disguise was a mere tool to complete our mission. Why, Guren? Why? Why humiliate yourself in front of the Hokage? I sighed.

 

“I’m sorry. I was distracted.” I glanced at my teammates. Yeah, they were amused with my dumbness. Great! I even saw Yamato smirked. Smirked! That emotionless lad smirked at my stupid remark! Gosh… Luckily we were dismissed by the Hokage.

 

I spent the rest of the day following Hana and the female kunoichi from Asuma’s team; Yamanaka Ino on a shopping spree. I remember her as the one with the flower shop. It seemed to me that she was a shopaholic, and Hana and I were completely helpless following her around like lost puppies. She really knew her thing – shopping - that was.

 

At the end of our tormented outing with her, both Hana and I had ourselves a few new outfits for our mission. And I was glad we were not the ones paying for those. Seeing the kunoichi carrying her bags of the so-called noble outfits in both hands, I guessed Konoha really went all out for their missions. Feeling exhausted, I was basically dragging my feet back home after that. Gosh, shopping was more tiring than having a spar!

 

..o0o..

 

We arrived in Suna earlier than expected. Yamato was riding a horse beside the carriage all the time. There were two carriages. One was for me, Hana and Ino. The other one was for Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji , at the back of our carriage. Asuma was riding a horse too, at the front, in his noble outfit. He looked natural, as if he was born a noble. But then again, I remembered that he was from the Sarutobi Clan. Of course he would be a natural in this kind of disguise.

 

We were brought to meet the Kazekage, Gaara. There were already a few- no, a lot of nobles around. Suna’s shinobi were not so content with the nobles, I could see that. 

 

“Cry-baby!” I saw Temari running towards us. She did not bring her infamous massive fan. I saw Shikamaru cringed at the word, though I did not know why he was called that by her.

 

“Don’t call me that, okay?” Shikamaru hushed her when she reached us. Chouji and Ino both were giggling, and soon all of us were laughing at the poor ‘noble’. Shikamaru smiled sheepishly but his smile faded when the nobles heard of us and decided to join the fun, especially with Temari at the center.

 

“Hello, fellow friends. We didn’t know you were familiar with Princess Temari. We would like to be introduced to her. I am Ikki, from Kirigakure and this one is my brother, Takeda.” One of the men bowed and introduced himself. Asuma bowed back and started small conversation with him, of which I did not bother to pay attention to.

 

Hana pulled my sleeve and whispered me to eye suspicious nobles around Shikamaru. They seemed to despise him after that friendly encounter with Temari. I could not agree more. The said nobles were all eyeing Shikamaru with murderous intent, but luckily Shikamaru was not so oblivious to the ‘threat’.

 

Temari pulled Ino’s hand towards her chamber. Hana and I followed suit. Once we were inside the chamber, Temari let out a deep sigh, sitting at the edge of her bed. 

 

“Thanks for coming. I don’t know what is happening. These creepy nobles are making me sick. Urgh!”

 

“How did this happen?”

 

“I don’t know. A few days ago a group of so-called nobles requested to see Gaara, bringing a lot of wedding gifts. They all say that they want to marry me. I don’t remember wanting to get married or agree to any political marriage ever.”

 

“Strange. Do you remember what you were doing before they start all these marriage proposals? Any mission went wrong, or something you promised them while drunk?”

 

“None that I remembered.” Temari sighed again. “I don’t wanna get married to anyone…”

 

“Anyone unless it’s Shikamaru, right?” Ino interjected the poor girl’s before she could finish her words. I saw a slight blush on Temari’s cheeks. Ino and Hana giggled at her antics.

 

“First off, we need to know what these nobles will gain if they marry you. And who started the rumours of this proposal.” I spoke after a long pondering. Both girls nodded their head in unison, agreed with my words. We spent the rest of the day thinking of the answers, but none of us could get one.

 

..o0o..

 

The next day, the Kazekage organized a mock hunting at Suna’s well-renowned Demon Desert after breakfast. All the nobles changed into their hunting gears, all too eager to join the event. We were all warned of the desert’s beast and were advised not to wander too far from the central tower we were heading to. 

 

Compared to all the nobles that were escorted by their bodyguards and errand boys, Asuma and Shikamaru were escorted only by Yamato and Chouji. Ino, Hana and I on the other hand were tagging along as Temari’s guests. There were only the four of us girls, and the Kazekage made sure that we sticked close to him along the way to the central tower.

 

Ino told me that the area was where they took their Chuunin examination previously, and that there were giant scorpions as well as other beasts roaming the sand. I mentally noted her words as I saw a whirl of sand not too far from our path. Luckily nothing happened until we reached the tower.

 

Upon arriving, the Kazekage floated on his sand in front of all the nobles. He looked at them and nodded to his brother, Kankurou to start the hunt. The rule was simple, any noble that manage to come back after 3 hours with scorpion venom would stay, and those who failed would need to leave Sunagakure immediately.

 

Seeing that some of the nobles were shinobi themselves, we were not surprise to see them stormed off of the tower and start the hunt in an instant. We immediately lost sight of Shikamaru and his team. 

 

..o0o..


	4. Slime

Chapter 4;

 

Three hours were a long time to us whom were waiting for the teams to get back here, but three hours might be too short for those who were out there. As a safety measure, Gaara and Kankurou had sent some of their shadow clones to supervise the hunt and so far nothing unusual happened. 

 

After an hour passed, half of the nobles came back, panting. They voluntarily withdraw from the hunt, saying something like it was impossible and the hunt was jeopardizing their lives. The previous nobles that greeted us, Ikki and Takeda were amongst the ones that withdrew from the hunt. I saw Hana trying to suppress her laugh. Of course it would be dangerous; it was to weed out the incompetent ones. Otherwise, why bother having a hunt?

“Temari, your boyfriend got a scorpion. But there are pursuers coming his way.” Kankurou notified his sister. 

 

“Do they get the venom already?” Ino asked him, and he shook his head as an answer. 

 

“I’m going. Kankurou, stay here and protect everyone.” Gaara suddenly left his monitoring area and discard his robes, preparing to fly on his sand towards the desert. His voice clearly sounded worry.

 

“What did you see? Gaara, I’m going with you.” Temari spoke to her brother, also sounded worried.

 

“No, you’ve to stay here. Protect everyone. I’ll be back.” He gave his final words and stormed off on his sand, flying. We could not hide our worries, especially when even Kankurou did not notice any threat. Or maybe, just maybe, the Kazekage was acting based on his instinct. I was not sure of that.

 

..o0o..

 

I slipped past the guardians and managed to follow Gaara in a noticeable distance. I was lucky Hana and Ino allowed me to follow him after I told them what I felt. It was purely instinct, but I felt a slight presence of my former master Orochimaru. 

 

The Kazekage arrived at Shikamaru’s location. The team was confronted by Kabuto and they were in a static state with both parties being too wary of the others’ movement. There was no Orochimaru on sight, yet I felt his presence. On another thought perhaps it was Kabuto that I felt all along. He had been with Orochimaru for so long his scent rubbed off on him, perhaps.

 

Once Kabuto noticed Gaara’s presence, he tried to flee but I managed to encase him in my Crystal Release jutsu in the nick of time. He was immobilized. 

 

Gaara transported him on his sand, while we took our time to get back to the central tower. Three nobles managed to get the venom, and the others quietly left Sunagakure after that. Of course, Shikamaru was one of the three.

 

A Suna shinobi called Baki was entrusted with Kabuto. He was to torture and interrogate him for information, but I hardly believe the snake bastard would spill anything. I was interrogated by Konoha’s T&I expert - Morino Ibiki, before I got my citizenship and hitai –ate, and yet he could only get what I wanted him to get. We were Orochimaru’s underlings; of course we had some counter-measure for interrogation like that. Oh, Kabuto’s still his underling until now. I secretly wished for Suna’s T&I to succeed in interrogating Kabuto, not because I hated him, but because I wanted to know what he was up to.

 

At nightfall, Gaara announced the schedule for tomorrow. The three contestants were to fight with Temari and if they lost, they would be sent home immediately. Shikamaru and the other two nobles were led to a weapon room where they were to choose the weapons they wanted to use tomorrow. 

 

..o0o..

 

I could not sleep that night. I kept having the feeling that Orochimaru was close by. Ino was sleeping soundly, thus I crept as silent as possible as not to wake her up. The night patrols were guarding the building, but they paid no attention to me. Perhaps it was because I was with Konoha envoys.

 

I went to the rooftop, feeling the breeze swaying my hair as I walked. It was full moon, and the clouds were not too dense, making the atmosphere quite serene for me. I was hoping for a peaceful moment when I felt his presence.

 

“I know you can feel my presence, Guren.” I heard a voice, and then my body went numb as a very long tongue wrapped me into a tight roll. Orochimaru!

 

“What do you want? Release me!”

 

“I can’t. You’ll ruin my plan. Why don’t you accompany Yukimaru in the afterlife? If you’re being good, I might ask Kabuto to reanimate both of you, and then you can be together again. How about that?”

 

“Ruin your plan? What plan? I’m not your underling anymore. I’m Konoha’s shinobi!”

 

“Do you really believe they think of you as one of them?” He crept closer to me, whispering to my ear. I could not help but reminisce the time when I went berserk after seeing the reanimated version of Yukimaru. And the time after that….

 

Flashback

I was kneeling in front of the Godaime, her being in front of me and two of her Anbus were at my sides. She was holding her rage but one can see the intensity in her eyes. 

“I hate having to result to this method but you leave me with no choice, Guren. We’ll place a seal on you. If you encounter Orochimaru, or any of his underlings, we’ll see what you see, and we’ll hear what your conversation is. I don’t care if that’s not okay with you. I care about my village. If you have nothing to hide, then accept this seal.” The Godaime really did not have any remorse uttering those words to me. Well, it was not like I had anything to hide in the first place.

I nodded and bowed to the Godaime. One of the Anbu then performed some kind of ritual on me and I collapsed again. When I woke up, I was already in the hospital, in that solitary room.

End of flashback

Orochimaru retracted his tongue and stood in front of me. Being released but covered in the sticky saliva of the snake’s tongue left me feeling filthy all over. 

“They might not think of me as one of them, but I know at least one of them will.”

“Who?”

“Naruto.” I heard a hearty laugh from him. He was laughing hysterically, but it ended instantly when we heard footsteps on the stairs to the rooftop.

The snake sannin decided to leave. I sighed in relief, especially when it was Yamato’s step that I heard. Yamato walked slowly towards me while eyeing the surroundings. I was sure he could feel him too. After all, he was one of Orochimaru’s discarded experiments.

Yamato faced me but said nothing. Instead, he gave me a small towel to rub off the slime from my cloth. 

“You look slimey.” That was all he said before he left.

..o0o..


	5. Cursed Seal

Chapter 5:

 

After what seemed like a long shower, I managed to cleanse myself from the disgusting slime. I went back to sleep without waking Ino up. There were still a couple hours before dawn, and I needed to gain my strength if he was to show up again tomorrow. I had a hunch that he might.

 

Crawling under the blanket, I had a thought in my mind. I knew that Yamato and Asuma did not sleep. I knew they were searching for any hint on what was the real intention of the nobles when they flocked to Suna for Temari’s hand in marriage. I knew, but I could not force myself to join them nor could I work on my own to gain intelligence. Facing that snake even for a minute really drained my strength, and worst of all, drained my will to move and to work.

 

At the break of dawn, Ino and I went to Temari’s room only to find Gaara going berserk and the rest of Suna’s shinobi trying to calm the Kazekage down. Baki told us that Temari went missing. There was a note on her bed saying that the kidnapper wanted to ‘borrow’ her for a few days, and by ‘kidnapper’, we all knew that it was the snake sannin although no one knew his real intention for that matter.

 

Kankurou decreed that all the nobles should leave Suna and announced that they officially cancelled the match. No one was to ask for Temari’s hand in marriage even after she was rescued. Suna would not tolerate anyone who tried to provoke them. Luckily the two nobles comply without any hassle, except ‘our’ very own noble. 

 

After everyone was dismissed, Gaara instantly formed rescue squads to find his sister. We were allowed to assist them and had to form a small group of three for each team. I was grouped with Yamato and Shikamaru, while Ino was with Asuma and Chouji. Hana was separated from us and were in Baki’s group along with Kankurou.

 

I did not know if grouping Konoha’s shinobi with each other would benefit our pursuit. In my opinion, it was better if Konoha’s shinobi was to team up with Suna’s shinobi. Suna’s desert was vigorous and hazardous to those without any experience especially those sandstorms that occurred frequently. We might get lost or worst- dead. Having Suna shinobi with us could at the very least help us to survive.

 

All the other groups were dismissed and went their separate ways outside Suna’s border. The only group which did not move was my group. All three of us seemed to come to a silent understanding that we should inspect within Suna’s border instead of going all the way outside. After all, there was no guarantee that Orochimaru already left Suna. And if I recalled correctly, there was a saying that the more dangerous the place was; the safest it would be.

 

We went to the center of the town and mingled with the citizens. No one paid any attention towards us, which was great. Yamato led us in front, and Shikamaru was at the back. It seemed that he had an idea on where to go because I sensed no doubt in his steps. He led us to an abandoned shrine at the outskirt of the town. To say the shrine was abandoned because it was secluded was overrated. It was not secluded in any way, seeing that the passage to the shrine was a busy road. Perhaps there was a reason on why it was abandoned in the first place.

 

There was a small gargoyle statue on each side of the shrine. Yamato pushed the gargoyle’s head both at the same time and a passage opened leading to a basement. As soon as we entered the passage, the entrance closed with a loud bang. It turned dark and I could not even see my hands.

 

Shikamaru urged us to stop moving. We heard a faint sound but then, it stopped. It was like we were not alone in there. Yamato sent a clone towards the direction of the sound, and it came back with nothing. Nothing was ahead of us. Perhaps the sound was from above.

 

We moved forward in the darkness, wary of the surroundings and the dangers that might lurked around us. And the basement was such a maze we encountered too many different paths. I could not even remember which path we chose. All of a sudden, a scream echoed, and in a blink of an eye Shikamaru rushed towards the source of the scream. It was Temari’s voice!

At the end of the dark basement, we found a clearing with laboratory equipments, the likes of which Orochimaru used to have when I was still his underling. There was a big cylinder tank with green liquid, enough to accommodate an adult. I thought Temari was inside it, but no, she was not. Instead, she was tied to a chair, hands and legs bound by wires of all colours. And she was unconscious by the time we reached her.

There was no sight of the snake Sannin, but the scattered notes and scrolls around the area indicated that he was just there a few moments ago. Yamato opened up a scroll and sealed every notes and scroll we managed to collect. Shikamaru would be busy decoding those after this.

 

We rescued Temari. But we did not realize the cursed seal she had.

 

……………………………………………

 

The Kazekage went on another rampage after he found out that the snake sannin had placed a cursed seal on his sister. Though we did not know the reason on why Temari was kidnapped, the existence of the cursed seal itself proved that there was something bad lurking in Suna. 

 

Gaara dismissed us Konoha shinobi right after he calmed down. He said something about us returning to Konoha even though we solved nothing. Our mission was fruitless. Neither did we solve the mystery on why nobles wanted to marry Temari nor did we figure the reason why she was given a cursed seal by Orochimaru. 

 

Asuma gathered us and told us to start preparing to get back to Konoha. We changed into our regular flak jacket and met the Kazekage before departing.

 

…………………………………….

 

A few weeks after the mission, Yamato came to my house and told me something that bothered me a lot. He wanted to go and find Orochimaru to clarify something. His existence.

 

I did not know Yamato well enough to understand what he meant by ‘clarifying his existence’. I just knew that he was the only survivor to one of Orochimaru’s numerous experiments. When I asked him whether or not Hana knew about it, he shook his head. Not even the Godaime knew his plan. This would be ridiculous. We might get caught and punished for deserting Konoha without permission.

 

As someone who used to be on Orochimaru’s side, he wanted to know if I would be interested in joining him. Of course, I agreed to join him. Not because of Orochimaru, but because I did not want him to go alone. There was something about him that puzzling me, though I did not know what it was. We agreed to depart at midnight.

 

When the promised time occurred, I sneaked nearby Konoha’s gate, waiting for him to show up. He came a few moments later, not wearing his flak jacket, but wearing civilian’s clothes. He said that I could still go back if I happened to change my mind. He was restless and trembled a little. Perhaps he never did this kind of thing before. I reassured him that I was certain.

 

Upon moving to exit Konoha, two jounin appeared in front of us. We were stopped from exiting. I would like to resist, but seeing that Yamato surrendered without fighting, I did the same. 

 

“Tenzou, do you think I would let you flee this easy?” Kakashi was one of them. The other one was Might Guy, his lifetime rival as I had been told. The gate keepers caught the sight of us four and ready to make a move, but upon realizing that Kakashi was present, they sat back to their post, watching us curiously.

 

“I’m not fleeing, Senpai. I just have something to do.” Yamato retorted.

 

“By going to your ‘creator’ and desert Konoha? You choose a nice ally. Both of you can go and serve Orochimaru for good.”

 

“Why do you hate me so much, senpai? What did I do wrong? I brought Sasuke back, and I even managed to hurt Kabuto along the way.”

 

“I know you wanted to replace me as Team 7’s captain, but there can only be one captain for a team.”

 

“I never intend to do that. Team 7’s your team, not mine to begin with. Don’t assume everything on your own without clarifying it.”

 

“Tch! You’re free to go. The Godaime says to let you through. I am not to capture you both. You only have a week though. Any later than that, your name will be on the Bingo book as an S-rank criminal. You too, Guren.”

 

“Noted. We will be sure to get back here on time.” I said to the Copy-nin, only to receive an uninterested look from him. 

 

Yamato and I made our exit and use body-flicker technique to vanish from Kakashi’s sight. I made a mental note to question him on the whole ‘why Kakashi hates you’ thing later on.

 

..o0o..


	6. The Reason

Chapter 6: The Reason

 

It was a silent night and the air was still when we stopped for a shelter in the forest halfway to Orochimaru’s hideout. Yamato used his mokuton to build a small cottage with two rooms for the night. We were supposed to take turns to be on guard, but I could not sleep at all. So did he.

 

I took the initiative to ask him the question that had been on my mind. He was startled at first, but then I saw him sighed.

 

“Why are you interested in this, Guren? I thought you’re a natural party.”

 

“I guess I’m just curious.”

 

“Well, remember the time I fetch you from the hospital? You saw me holding some parchment, right?” He asked and I nodded at the question. “I took the parchment from your friend’s hand before he was sealed. It was a note from Kabuto to me.” Friend. Yukimaru. My heart ached hearing the name, but I knew Yamato did not meant anything when he said it.

 

He stared at the roof, waiting to continue his explanation. “The note says that I did not bring Sasuke back with my ability, but with their generosity. Sasuke was back in Konoha because ‘they’ allowed him to, not because I saved him from them.”

 

“We all know it’s not true. You shouldn’t bother with it.”

 

“No. You don’t understand. It’s like he was saying that I exist because he allows me to. That everything I am now is because of him. I hate that. I know it’s the truth, but still, I hate that. A lot.”

 

“Yamato, may I ask another sensitive question?”

 

“Heh, you don’t mind asking the first, why would you mind asking the next?”

 

“Is that the reason why Kakashi always picked on you?”

 

“Well….”

 

Flashback

The new Team Seven was sent on another mission to retrieve Sasuke, and had successfully infiltrate Orochimaru’s hideout where Sasuke resided, but it was abandoned. No one was left in that hideout, and the only living thing they found was Sasuke’s snake summon, Aoda. All four of them quickly teleported outside the hideout but were rendered under siege when suddenly the surroundings outside were full of Orochimaru’s underling including Sasuke himself.

Naruto tried to engage Sasuke in a conversation, yet the latter ignored him. Instead, he started to launch continuous attacks towards Naruto. His snake summon entangled Naruto while Sasuke tried to kill him with his sword. Sakura and Sai were fighting with the underlings when Sasuke managed to hurt Naruto. Barely. And that made him enraged even more.

When he tried to plunge his sword towards Naruto again, Yamato intercepted just in the nick of time, but he injured Sasuke in the process. 

End of Flashback

Yamato finished his story with a heavy sigh. Looking at me, he continued his story.

“I injured Sasuke when we retrieved him. Actually it was intended for Kabuto, as I was fighting him. But then I saw Sasuke aiming for Naruto and I couldn’t stop myself from interfering his lethal attack. Kabuto and the other underlings retreated but Sasuke was heavily injured by me that he got left behind. Only those three that followed him remained. Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu. They followed us back to Konoha willingly.”

“That can’t be helped then. But why did Kakashi blame you? It’s a mission. It’s bound to fail, yet you guys managed to take him back. He should thank you instead.”

“You don’t understand. I hurt his student.”

Yamato stood up and walked to his room. I guessed I was on guard duty then.

……………………………………

I was dozing off when a small white snake appeared. I did not know if it was the same white snake at my house before or not, but the small snake spat a crumbled paper in front of me. I looked at it a few moments before deciding to take it. When I touched the paper, the snake disappeared. I unfolded the wet and crumbled paper in disgust. Eww….why did I always had to touch the snake’s saliva. I didn’t even sure if snakes had saliva. But it was disgusting.

DO NOT PROCEED

That was what it was written. I started to think that the white snake was a spy. What if Orochimaru purposely let me loose to gain intelligence on Konoha. But Godaime already placed the seal on me. They would know everything, wouldn’t they?

“What is that?” Yamato’s voice startled me. I handed it to him. Eyeing the paper, he crumbled it and tossed it away. “Where did you get it?”

“A white snake. It came from nowhere.”

“Go to sleep. I’ll keep watch. It’s almost dawn already.” He took my place after ushering me into the cottage. I complied, not wanting to further our conversation.

I entered the cottage with troubled feeling. I knew I would not be able to sleep after receiving such a note. And Yamato was no better. He was restless outside. I could hear his footsteps pacing back and forth. He was usually calm. It was strange to see him like this.

……………………………………..

We were approaching Orochimaru’s hideout when suddenly the land beneath us began to shift and we fell down on what seemed like an underground spiral slide. It was steep, and we couldn’t control our movement. We slided so fast that at the end of the spiral we both fell onto the ground head first. 

Trying to gain control over our dizziness, I saw Orochimaru standing in front of us. He was smiling. It was creepy. If anyone else smiled, it was okay. If ‘he’ smiled, creepy was the only word I could use.

“Guren…Yamato…What did I say before? You just can’t follow my advice, do you?”

………………………………………..


	7. Into The Snake's Lair

Chapter 7: Into the Snake’s Lair

 

It happened so fast. In a blink of an eye, both Yamato and I were each restricted to a chair, hands cuffed to the armrest while our legs were bound to the chair’s legs. Our chakra points were blocked, which was not a surprise. 

 

“What’s your purpose for coming here? To capture me? Destroy my laboratory? Or to kill me?” Orochimaru hissed.

 

“You know why I’m here. You gave me that parchment. What’s that supposed to mean?” Yamato yelled at Orochimaru’s face. The snake sannin pondered at the charge. He turned to Kabuto for explanation.

 

“What parchment is he referring to, Kabuto?” 

 

“It’s..it’s just a joke. I don’t have any bad intention. He’s the one taking it too seriously.” Kabuto shivered. I saw his body trembled especially when Orochimaru approached him. 

 

“Do not do something behind my back. I never order you to do anything unnecessary.” Surprisingly, he choked Kabuto who in return begged to be released. Orochimaru released him only after his face turned blue. Kabuto fell to the floor, trying to catch his breath. 

 

“I only said the truth!” Kabuto uttered in pain. He cowered back when Orochimaru paid no attention to him anymore. The snake sannin looked at us in what seemed like an amusement.

 

“Now, Yamato..what did he say to you? I’m curious as well.” He asked Yamato.

 

After a long silence, Yamato answered him. “He said I did not save Sasuke. It was you who allowed Sasuke back to us and that my existence was because you allow me to live.” 

 

I swore Yamato looked like a child sulking at his parent when he said that to Orochimaru, plus his pouting face. It was like the parent was supposed to comfort him by saying good things to him. Gosh, he was a very capable shinobi, but still, it made me unable to contain my laugh. 

 

“What? Why are you laughing, Guren?” Yamato asked me in utter confusion. I looked at him and Orochimaru.

 

“Nothing. I’m sorry I just remember something. Sorry.” I explained, trying to contain my laugh. 

 

“It seemed that setting you free has done well to you. You know how to laugh now, Guren.” The snake sannin looked at me and grinned. “And you, Yamato. What Kabuto said to you is not wrong either. Do you want to hear a story? Though I don’t really know why I’m telling this.”

We both nodded hastily. 

………………………………………

 

“Long ago the Third Hokage was our sensei. Our team consist of Jiraiya, Tsunade and me. Jiraiya loved her but Tsunade had a lover, Kato Dan, whom she loved very much. She lost him and his brother to the war. After that, she was never the same.” Orochimaru took an empty set in front of us. He paused for a while before resuming his narration.

 

“We are human, bound to die in the end. I left the village and became a missing-nin to pursue my dream. Seeing Tsunade’s grievance of Dan and Nawaki made me want to pursue eternal life. Tsunade doesn’t know, but I too, have feelings for her. Everything I do, I do it with her interest in mind.”

 

“You are not a failed experiment, Yamato. You have her grandfather’s kekkei genkai, and I intend to send you to Konoha, to Tsunade, to help her in any way possible. I’m glad you’re in ANBU as I supposed she will find it great if she knew her grandfather’s jutsu is not lost. I miscalculated Danzo, though. But you’re no longer with ROOT.”

 

“Why did you attack Konoha then? The Third died because of you!” 

 

“Sarutobi-sensei died protecting Konoha. I’m pretty sure he did not regret that. I too, would die protecting what I love.”

 

“You did not answer the question!” Yamato yelled with frustration after seeing Orochimaru’s emotionless face. It seemed like the snake sannin did not care of his sensei’s death. Or maybe he cared but his face was unable to produce any emotion. Results of his numerous experiments, perhaps.

 

“Like I said, I love Tsunade. If the Third did not die, she won’t come back to Konoha. Everything I did will be in vain.”

 

“So basically you’re saying that you attack Konoha, killed The Third, kidnap Sasuke, and did all other things because you love Tsunade? That’s sick!” I interjected his words. All of a sudden I came to fear this man. What did he think to result to those actions? Would it justify his love, then?

 

“Have you ever loved anyone, Guren? And see to yourself how she ruined herself in memories of her lost ones? How about I show you how it feels?” 

 

“What do you mean by ‘show me how it feels’?” I felt terrified at his question.

 

“Don’t worry. You won’t lose anyone. Just your kekkei genkai.”

 

Orochimaru bit his finger and placed a weird seal on the ground right where we were tied. The seal glowed and engulfed us within the emitted light, but nothing happened afterward. I looked at Yamato but he was as confused as I was. 

 

“There you go. Shoo..shoo..go back to your village. I don’t have time to entertain both of you much longer.” Orochimaru told Kabuto to release us and they teleported right away after releasing us. We teleported outside and fell to the ground, glad that we could still teleport. Perhaps Orochimaru was just teasing us before.

 

“I don’t feel anything weird. Do you, Guren? Wait, let me try my jutsu.” Yamato asked me while trying to use his mokuton, but it did not work. I tried to use mine too, but the result was the same. We paled. Teleportation was okay, but he could not use mokuton and I could not use my crystal release.

 

We could not use our kekkei genkai!


	8. He Can’t Use What is Mine

Chapter 8: He Can’t Use What is Mine

 

Yamato and I hurried back to Konoha without delay. The one week limit was approaching and we did not want to be branded as missing-nin. Not when our jutsu were unusable. As we approached the gate, Kakashi and Might Guy were already there as if they were expecting us. I wondered if they had put some tracking device on us without our knowledge.

 

“Godaime wants to see you both right now. Let’s teleport to her office. ” Kakashi spoke to us once we reached the entrance. We nodded and teleported after him. Might Guy followed suit.

 

“Godaime!” Yamato greeted the Hokage. She looked like she was in a bad mood, so I did not say anything and remained silent.

 

“Guren! I told you I will know if you have any contact with Orochimaru! I heard everything and now I feel bad for not noticing his intention. Urgh! Why do you have to go to him? Why can’t you let Yamato went alone? And you, Yamato! Are you incompetent enough that you have to bring an escort to find him?” The Hokage went on a long grumble but luckily she did not trash anything in the room. 

 

I remained silent as I did not know how to react to that statement.

 

“It seems like both of you can’t use your kekkei genkai. Is it true?” The Hokage ended her mumbling and stood in front of us, wary of our answers. Yamato and I nodded.

 

“Is it blocked or erased? Temporary? Permanantly? What is it? Tell me!” She was enraged, but she was not the only one. Being exhausted from our journey, I failed to cover my voice as I finally shouted at her in loud pitch. 

 

“How would we know if we could not use crystal release or mokuton at al…AAaaaarrgh!”My hand! I screamed as my hand suddenly grew longer and hardened like a branch of trees that grew up too fast. In panic, I realized that I just used mokuton without knowing how to stop it or use it properly. The growing did not cease and I had even trashed the walls in Godaime’s room!

 

………………………………………………..

 

When I finally managed to turn my hand back to normal, The Hokage ordered us to go to the nearby training ground and see if Yamato had my crystal release. Kakashi, Might Guy and a few ANBUs followed us. I could see their curious faces. 

 

Upon arriving, we found that it was already occupied by Naruto and Konohamaru. Both were showing off their Oiroke no jutsu to each other, resulting in the ANBUs serious nose bleed. Kakashi and Guy were indifferent to the jutsu, but I knew Kakashi was forcing himself not to look at the temptation.

 

“Guren! Kakashi sensei! Yamato Taichou! Guy sensei!” Naruto greeted us and changed back to his real self. “What are you doing here? What’s with the ANBU?” He then ran towards us, slightly puzzled with the unseemly escorts that we had.

 

I looked at Kakashi and Guy, waiting for their response to Naruto’s question, but both remained indifferent. I got it that Kakashi might still loathe Naruto, but Might Guy should be unbiased. Then again, perhaps just like me, he was waiting for Kakashi’s response too before answering Naruto.

 

“We are preparing for an S-class mission. You both should go back. We don’t want anyone to know this, so you can’t tell anyone. Okay?” I pushed both boys out from the training ground. Naruto made a commotion that he wanted to stay, but he gladly went away when I gave him a coupon to Ichiraku Ramen.

 

“Yamato, try to use my hexagonal shuriken. Kessho: Rokkaku Shuriken:Ranbu!” I made all the hand signs for him to imitate. Yamato followed my example, but nothing happened. 

 

“Try Shoton: Kurenai no kajitsu!” We tried that but it too, failed to manifest. I was baffled. Why could I use mokuton but he could not use my crystal release.

 

“I think we should stop. Both of you should go back and have some rest. Kakashi and I will inform Lady Tsunade of this result.” Guy ushered us out from the training ground. The ANBUs quickly teleported away from the training ground, leaving us behind.

 

“I’ll send Guren back to her house.” Yamato informed them and received a nod from both shinobi. We started walking towards my house in silence. 

 

Once arrived, Yamato made a quick survey around the perimeter. He looked troubled.

 

“Do you think it will be safe here? You’ll be alone and you can’t use your jutsu.”

 

“It will be okay. Besides, I don’t think anyone will bother to come here anyway.”

 

“Maybe I should ask Lady Tsunade to relocate you somewhere else. Or maybe you could stay with Hana for the time being.”

 

“No. I prefer to be here. It’s my house and it’s quite serene. I don’t want any unnecessary attention I might get if I were to be relocated or if I were to live in Inuzuka compound.”

 

“Noted.”

 

……………………………………

 

A few days passed by. Both Yamato and I were relieved from active duty and were told to report to the Hokage of our progress every day. I could grasp the basic of his mokuton but to master it fully was impossible. 

 

Yamato came to my house every day since that day we got back to Konoha. He showed me the trick and tips on how to use his jutsu. I tried to teach him my crystal release too, but as expected, he could not use it. We tried to stay positive by forcing ourselves to believe that he would manage to use it one day.

 

In between lessons, we grew accustomed to have a little chat on my wooden chairs outside the house. Our topics vary from the current affairs of Konoha to the latest trends in civilian fashion to Naruto’s numerous pranks in the village. Well, mostly. But today, we had a little not so normal chat. He asked me to give him the crystallized camellia that I have in possession. Why would he want that?

 

I chose not to respond to him.

 

…………………………………….

 

The Hokage summoned me again. She said that she had been trying to locate Orochimaru since the day we lost our kekkei genkai. Truthfully, I did not know any of his hideout except a few abandoned ones. 

 

The way she fret about him, I could sense that she was not only trying to find him because of our mishap, but more to having a real talk with that man. I guessed Orochimaru’s words that day really made an impact to her.

 

When she realized that I could not help her to locate the snake sannin, she dismissed me from the Hokage Tower. I decided to take a walk around the village, aware that there were two ANBUs sent to stealthily follow me. 

 

My feet took me to Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto’s favourite place. I went in and ordered a bowl of ramen, but Teuchi, the owner suddenly tripped over the burning gravy pot. Unconsciously, I realized that I had used mokuton to shield him from the hot mess. And that made me comprehend one sore fact.

 

I still had a kekkei genkai eventhough it was Yamato’s to begin with, but Yamato…he lost his kekkei genkai and he could not even use mine!


	9. Mizu no Kuni

Chapter 9 : Mizu no kuni

 

I wondered if Yamato were distressed on the fact that he lost his kekkei genkai just like that. On my way back to my house, I saw a horse carriage with banners indicating they were from Sunagakure. A few shinobi cladded in Suna’s ANBU attire were escorting the carriage. It was headed to the Hokage tower.

 

I was not one to be snooping into things that were not of my concern, but it piqued my interest and I decided to follow the carriage. It was not shocking to see Temari on the carriage and she waved at me once she noticed my presence. One thing that I was unable to fathom was that both Suna’s and Konoha’s ANBU were not bothered with my existence. They simply ignore me.

 

At the Hokage tower, I followed the delegation into Godaime’s office. Again, no one bothered to stop me. I wondered whether they had any instruction not to stop me from entering. 

 

“Temari, you’ve arrived.” Tsunade greeted her and ordered her ANBU to wait outside the office. “And what are you doing here, Guren?” 

 

“I don’t know. Just want to know what’s going on. Hehe..I’ll excuse myself.” I said, faking a giggle and went to the door. 

 

“No, stay here. I already instruct them not to send you off if you happened to follow them.” The Hokage gestured that I took a seat beside Temari. “I think I know why you’re interested. The curse mark on Temari, is it?” 

 

“I didn’t think of that actually. I’m just curious as why she’s here. That’s all. But if she’s here regarding the curse mark, I’d like to know what I can do to help. It might have something to do with our lost. Yamato and I, I mean.”

 

“Gaara found out that the Mizukage has the same mark as mine. But she denied having it despite Gaara witnessing it himself.” Temari spoke to us, but then she looked at me in confusion. “Lost? What lost?”

 

“Guren lost her kekkei genkai but she now had Yamato’s mokuton. We thought Yamato would have her crystal release but he did not. But both of them could use normal jutsu as per usual.” Godaime explained to her instead of me.

 

“Does that have anything to do with Orochimaru?” Temari asked again.

 

“Yeah. We went to search for him and when we found him, he placed that weird seal and then it just happened.” I answered her.

 

“Guren, I’m giving your team a new mission. You’ll find Orochimaru and reverse these stupid seals he made. Wait..bring Naruto along with you. I’ll ask Kakashi and the rest of his team to escort Temari back to Suna after Shizune and I finished our assessment with her.” Tsunade gave her orders and dismissed me. 

 

“Noted. I’ll notify my team and Naruto. We will depart as soon as possible.” I greeted both of them and teleported out from the tower to find my team.

 

..o0o..

 

Naruto was bouncing happily when we left Konoha’s gate, shouting something like ‘S-rank mission’ and ‘beating Sasuke’s in mission count’. Yamato on the other hand was sighing at the boy’s antic. 

 

“Guren, is this the S-rank mission you guys talk about the other day?” Naruto asked me when he calmed down from his bouncing. “The one at the training ground?”

 

“Kind of. Naruto, Hana, Yamato and I have something to tell both of you. It’s important.” I told them and we halted our walk. Hana looked puzzled, but she remained quiet. 

 

“We both lost our kekkei genkai. But strangely I had Yamato’s mokuton. He did not have my crystal release though. So this mission is highly risky. We can use other jutsu, but will rely heavily on both of you.” I clarified our situation to them. 

 

“Don’t worry! I’ll save you if you’re in trouble. I can’t be the next Hokage if I can’t save my friend, can I?” Naruto smiled brightly and keep mumbling his Hokage dreams for a few minutes. We just let him be.

 

“I’ll back you up too, Guren. You too, Yamato.” Hana gave us her assurance. I was glad she did not ask further. But with her being so accepting, I had a hunch that she might felt left out in the dark. We were a team, but she was not there when we faced Orochimaru. And she was the only one that had nothing to do with the snake sannin. Then again, I might be over thinking things. 

 

So, that part was settled. Now, where would we find Orochimaru?

 

..o0o..

 

Since we did not have any intelligence on Orochimaru’s whereabout, we decided to go and meet the Mizukage for clues regarding the case. Traveling to Kirigakure took longer than anticipated. We had travelled at our fastest speed but only managed to shorten it for a day. We decided to rest at an inn for the night and would request audience with the Mizukage afterwards. 

 

The two rooms we booked came with dinner and separate hot springs attached to it respectively. I wondered why Yamato looked so gloomy during dinner, and then it turned out that he was the one paying for both rooms. How generous of him.

 

“Yamato-taichou, you always end up paying every time we came to an inn. Do you really like to show your wealth to us?” Naruto playfully nudged him, but was brushed off by Yamato.

 

“Naruto, why don’t you just shut up? I’m not as wealthy as Kakashi-senpai, and why are you calling me taichou? I’m no longer your captain.”

 

“Do you really mean it, Yamato-taichou? For me, you’re always our captain. Kakashi sensei is Kakashi sensei. You’re both a different person. I like him, and I like you too. “

 

“It’s no use arguing with him, Yamato. Let’s just finish this and have some sleep.” Hana finished her food as she spoke to them. I agreed with her.

 

“I’m not sleeping with Naruto. I’d prefer to be on watch tonight.” I saw Yamato shuddered at his own words. 

 

“Huh? Why? Do you really hate me, taichou? How could you....” Naruto made his eyes teary and looked at Yamato with pitiful expression. It made Yamato scowled.

 

“I’m definitely **NOT** sleeping with you. It’s a nightmare! Even when I shielded myself with my mokuton, I still can’t sleep. You don’t remember it, but I won’t forget that. Ever!” Yamato scowled even more, while Naruto seemed oblivious of it.

 

“Why don’t you tell us, then? I’m curious as well.” Hana looked at him, demanding explanation on that.

 

“I’m not telling. You can ask Kakashi-senpai on that. I’ll be outside. You three should go to sleep.” Shrugging, Yamato stood up and went outside. I looked at Naruto, curious as to what made Yamato scowled like that. 

 

“Don’t look at me. I don’t know what he’s referring to. Kakashi-sensei never said anything about my sleeping habit. Do you think that I really have sleeping habit?” Naruto pondered for a while. 

 

“How would I know?” I giggled at him. Naruto mumbled something and then excused himself out. 

 

The next morning, we made our way to meet the Mizukage. The ANBU denied our entrance but once the Mizukage heard that we were present, she ordered them to take us inside. 

 

**“So….what made you come here?”**

 

..o0o..


	10. Candidate

Chapter 10 : Candidates

 

“Mizukage-sama. We are here on a mission from our Hokage. It involves Orochimaru.” Yamato proceed to explain to the Mizukage regarding the curse mark and what had happened with Temari. 

 

The Mizukage, Terumi Mei, looked at us with strange expression. It seemed that she knew what we were referring to, but did not want us to bother her with that. “And why would I care?” She asked us.

 

Hana gave a scroll painting of Temari’s curse mark to one of the assistant. The Mizukage reluctantly opened the scroll and after seeing it for a few second, she burnt it with her Lava-release jutsu. The scroll burnt and melted to the floor. She gave us a daunting grin.

 

“What are you implying?” She asked us again. Her voice was fuelled with rage, but the grin remained. I saw Naruto shuddered beside me.

 

“We need to know what the mark does and how to reverse it. One of our friends is affected by it. Since nothing happened to you, we think that you might know the solution.” Hana braced herself to speak, ignoring the killing intent from Kirigakure’s ANBU in the room. They would not kill us since we were on a mission from the Hokage, but it did not guarantee our full safety. 

 

“Why would I tell you? And even if I do, it won’t be for nothing.” The Mizukage now gave us a smug grin. There was a glint in her eyes that spelled danger. Danger to us innocent Konoha shinobi.

 

“If it won’t be for nothing, then perhaps we can ask what do you have in mind for it?” Yamato tried to be polite. 

 

“Find me a suitable husband. In one month. My assistant will show you to your room. We will continue this conversation once you finish the mission.” The Mizukage stood and left us in a blink of an eye, after telling her assistant to bring us to our respective rooms. 

 

Great. We got ourselves a mission within a mission. Now we were straddled with a match-making task. I glanced at Hana and saw her stressed face. Yamato was still expressionless but Naruto was the one that shocked me the most. He spoke nothing during the entire time and seemed dazzled. I hope he was okay.

 

That night, we went out for dinner in a small ramen restaurant nearby. Naruto once again did not spoke anything when we started discussing our option for the suitable bridegroom. Hana said that the groom must be a splendid candidate, but he could not be someone of important ninja rank in any country. That would bring problems since no country would want to lose their best ninja to a marriage.

 

“Naruto, why are you so quiet today? Are you okay?” Yamato asked him when he still did not speak anything. Naruto shook his head.

 

“I’m okay. I’m just wondering.” The usually loud ninja beside me finally spoke after a long pause. He looked at Yamato and Hana in front of us.

 

I swore I had never seen Naruto so serious before. His was always smiling and doing jokes to make us laugh, but seeing his serious face was something else. “Wondering of what?” I asked him.

 

“She’s the Mizukage. Surely she had her own council and advisors. Why did she need us to find her a husband? Gaara’s a Kazekage and he’s not married yet, but I’m sure his advisors are searching for suitable wife for him. Maybe not in the near future, but within a few years, perhaps?” 

 

Okay, that was not what I was thinking. I totally forgot about that and Yamato and Hana were the same as me too. We did not stop to think about that. But then again, Tsunade-sama was not married too. I knew Orochimaru had feelings for her due to his confession to Yamato and me. The Toad Sage, Jiraiya, might like her as well.

 

“Our Hokage is not married yet too, and we sure do have our council and advisors.” I told him on that fact.

 

“Yeah, but she’s scary. Only Ero-sennin likes her.” Naruto grunted and slouched his hands on the table.

 

“Nope. Orochimaru likes her too you know.” I interjected him, only to see a shocked face of him upon hearing that.

 

“Wh-whaaat?”

 

“She’s not lying. Orochimaru told us when we got captured before.” Yamato seconded my revelation. “Finish your meals. We’ll discuss in our room after this.”

 

…………………………………..

 

Who was the best candidate for the Mizukage’s husband? We got a few list from all Five Countries. Some of their suggestions I had never met before, and some of my suggestions went the same way to them. But Yamato said something about a chance for strengthening our relationship with Mizu no Kuni, so we decided to only include shinobi from Konoha after a long debate.

 

**List of possible candidates:**

 

Umino Iruka – omitted by Naruto for no reason  
Hatake Kakashi – omitted due to Sharingan possession  
Morino Ibiki ¬¬– omitted due to being too scary as per Naruto’s opinion  
Might Guy – omitted due to being too eccentric at times  
Shiranui Genma - passable  
Namiashi Raidou - passable  
Teuchi – suggested by Naruto but cancelled it after Hana told him he could not eat at Ichiraku Ramen ever again once Teuchi married the Mizukage  
Juugo – no further information  
Suigetsu – no further information  
Jiraiya – omitted by both Hana and me

 

In the end, we decided to omit all the candidates. So, how and where could we find a suitable one?

 

……………………….

 

A few knocks was heard on our door. Naruto got up and opened the door to reveal a boy with sharp teeth forcing his way in.

 

“Oi..who are you?” Hana reached for her kunai, eyeing the boy warily. Yamato was already in a defensive stance, facing the slightly trembling boy while I was eyeing Naruto who looked ready to tackle the boy down.

 

“Wait..I mean no harm. I’m Chojuro, Mei-sama’s personal bodyguard. I want to give you important information and you’ll really need it.” The boy, Chojuro, waved his hands in surrender. He looked at all of us.

 

“Well, what is it?”

 

“I know the best candidate for her.” His eyes were twinkling when he spoke those promising words. We knew we were lucky if the information was reliable, yet we did not know of this boy. Would it be reliable? Or would it send us to our death?

 

“Why should we trust you? We don’t even know you.” I spoke to the boy who smiled in return.

 

“I know you won’t trust me since we are not acquainted in any way, but I’m not lying. I really know the best candidate for her. And the bonus is he likes her too.” Chojuro seemed determined with his words. I reckoned he must have been noticing some secrets of the Mizukage from all his guarding missions with her.

 

“Ookay..he likes her. So, the problem is…?” Hana guessed between the lines and I knew she was right. There must be something else that prevented him from wooing her in the first place.

 

“He’s in the Akatsuki!”

 

We paled after the revelation.

 

……………………………….


End file.
